Deportations to Jamaica

By Amit Roy

IT IS hard to fault the home secretary Priti Patel for wanting to deport Ja­maican nationals con­victed of murder and rape charges, but some 23 received last-minute reprieves last week.

The Black Lives Matter movement says it does not condone crime, but Jamaicans who grew up in this country are Brit­ain’s problem.

The Home Office ar­gues it is a mistake con­flating the Windrush scandal with deportation of those convicted of very serious crimes.

Again, that is a persua­sive agreement.

But I would like to ask another question: why have these Jamaicans be­come criminals?

The extent to which black people have suf­fered harassment, bully­ing and discrimination is graphically illustrated in Steve McQueen’s films – notably Mangrove and Red, White and Blue – currently being shown on the BBC. I urge Eastern Eye readers to see them because Asians quite of­ten have little idea of what black people have been through.

In Mangrove, the police keep raiding a black-owned restaurant in Notting Hill. In Red, White and Blue, an idealistic young man who joins the force with the idea of changing racist attitudes from the inside, finds the N-word scrawled on his locker. And when he requests back up when he is in danger, his white col­leagues refuse to turn up.

What has all this to do with the Jamaican depor­tation flights?

Perhaps there is a case for saying that Jamaican criminals should be treat­ed more leniently.